'Venom Man' charged with owning & abusing venomous snakes

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) - A western Maryland man known as "VenomMan20" was charged with having venomous snakes, some of whom didn't have fresh water and could have escaped, reported Maryland Natural Resources Police.

Brandon Joseph Boyles, 28, of Cascade, who is known as "VenomMan20" on YouTube, is charged with 23 total counts of illegally possessing venomous snakes, animal cruelty and reckless endangerment, according to a news release.

When police entered his apartment on Feb. 22, they found six Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes, one 7-foot-long Forest Cobra, one Cape Coral Cobra and two Boomslangs in his apartment, all of which can fatally bite humans.

Boyles posted videos shot in his apartment of him unboxing snakes, including a "Gaboon Viper, a Monocle cobra and an Indo-Chinese Spitting Cobra," on YouTube in 2016 and 2017.

Police found snakes kept in plastic bins in his apartment, which could have allowed snakes to escape into the building.

The snakes didn't have fresh water; one of the bins was "filthy," according to the news release.